[dhruval]

Given that they had 75% inflation in the previous year, pegging salary to cost of living or providing that cost directly is not such a terrible idea.

The correct approach ofc would be to manage money supply responsibly but Argentina has failed to do that over and over.

[dangerwill]

It sounds like a nice alternative to engaging with a broken currency but it creates all these headaches/problems. How do we stop employers from leveraging the quality and quantity of these goods in such a way that employees are still provided and equivalent benefit as before? Even with refrigeration, food spoils, so if you give your employee their salary in perishables that institutes an effective top salary, set to the cost in USD to acquire (2k calories * number of days in the pay period * number of dependents). Everything after that is extra that you can't consume and will go bad. And if you try to trade the extra to get some hard currency, well everyone else in your boat will be doing the same, which will lead to increased inflation for these raw goods.

Alternatively employers could give all of the necessities of life in raw form (housing, medical treatment, food, water, internet, clothing, etc) but that doesn't scale well and is vastly more inefficient than just providing the currency required to procure those goods individually. Not to mention the leverage that gives employers into how you live your personal life which is a huge concern too.

It's hard for me to see a return to barter as anything other than a collapse in the economic complexity of a country.